[b][u]
Vigilant Space Control Tower
[/u][/b]
The Command center of the Space Control Tower was sent into a frenzy, the usually calm atmosphere was drowned out by numorus voices and cries as the command and control staff. Reports of missing persons and casualties  were surging through to their ears. All the while the horrifying events unfolded before them as starship debris clashed with the station's shields. At the center of it all was a human male around his early thirties, the Commander of the Station. He attmepted to maintian his composure, keep the fasade of a sturdy commander, but he was just as nerve-wrecked as everyone around him. He shook his head, out of his daze as one of his subordinates called out to him. 

"Commander Sanderson! We're being hailed by one of the Cormyrean warships!"

Without much hesitation, Sanderson gave the order." Put it through!." sometime had passed after the Captain hailed and quite frankly, it was alot to take in at once. An internal attack? And an attmepted assassination. "What the hell is going on...?" he muttered to himself, but turned his attention back to Captain Ruag, Sanderson gave a deep breath. "I can assure you Captain Ruag, I have Marine and Emergency Service teams on their way to ground zero, they will assit your efforts to save both your people and ours." he paused a moment and continued. "And we shall have the medbay ready for the Senator's arrival."

Captain Ruag's response came a minute later, the Nalloth seeming excited and on edge, his eyes darting about in every direction as if expecting some predator to jump at him from behind a console. "I have been informed that the senator has been shot, twice, and struck by debris from the explosion. I have been unable to asertain what type of firearm was used on him or the extent of his injuries, but it sounds bad." Ruag focused all four eyes on something offscreen before adding "We've located the senator's escape pod. One of our shuttles will link up with it in five minutes and then take him to you. Our surgeons should be arriving at about the same time."

"Good, we'll have his room ready for treatment." the Commander replied, looking down and grabbing a a comm device from his command chair, pressing down a few keyes before connecting with the Medbay. "This is Commander Sanderson too Medbay, we got a VIP coming in, prep a room for emergency surgery." he placed the device down. "It's done."

Outside the station, a small fleet of shuttlecraft and tug ships sped towards the wreakage, scattering as elelments of Angel Company focused on the destroyed Confederation Cruiser, while the rescue tugs and the rest of Angel Company focused on the civilian ships caught in the blast. 

The shuttle carrying the senator arrived at [i]Vigilant[/i] a bit before the one carrying the Confederate surgeons. Those present at the landing bay were in for a gruesome sight as the shuttle's crew and a single medic rushed the dying senator out of the shuttle. It was impossible to tell that he had been shot due to the sheer amount of shrapnel that had torn into his body. Blood seemed to ooze out from all along his body, from his head to his feet. Of his eyestalks, only the bottom two remained. His top two eyestalks had been cut off by something, presumibly debris during the first explosion. He was still breathing, but each breath sounded wet and sickly and an experienced individual could hear the telltail sounds of a sucking chest wound.

The medic rushed over to the nearest human he saw, flailing his arms and whistling at the human frantically for a moment before seeming to realize the human wouldn't be able to understand him. The medic, seeming to wince at the thought of wasting precious seconds, grabbed a tablet and held it up to the human to translate what he said. "We can't wait for the fleet surgeons. We need to start operating now or the senator dies."

The human stranger was in a panic from what he had read, unable to be of much use to the frantic Nalloth, however, help had arrived as a doctor from the medbay had rushed over with a pair of SDF troopers. "We're to lead you to the medbay, follow us, quick!"

The group streamed through the corridors, racing for one of elevators before it closed, and to their great fortune, they made it. A minute passes as they arrived to their intended destination, the doors sliding opening, revealing a hosptial lobby filled with people of various species waitng to see their respetive doctors. The Doctor sent to lead the Senator made some hand gestures to follow him to a particular direction, going down another hallway as they pushed through the doors leading to the Operation room. "When can we expect your Surgeons to arrive?"

"Minutes" The Nalloth medic answered. "It'll be too late. He's bleeding out and for all we know there could be some debris sitting next to his heart. We need to start pulling this junk out of him. Now. I've got a few materials on me that should help prevent him from bleeding out before the surgeons get here." He held up a bag full of clear liquid with a tube at the bottom that ended in a needle. He inserted the needle into Senator Fayyer's arm as he held the bag up. The medic then, using his cyberware and personal AI connected Fayyer's own cyberware to the room's computers so that it could provide them with his vitals. The medic then did his best to walk the Federation doctors through how to handle some of Fayyer's wounds, though he was obviously way out of his element.

When one of the doctors pulled out what looked like a comparibly large railgun round the medic's translation software dutifully translated "We haven't used those rounds for decades." He seemed unaware that what he had almost certainly muttered to himself had been printed in words on a monitor behind him.

At last, after what felt like hours what was in fact a few minutes, the Nalloth surgeons arrived and took over. The Nalloth medic, feeling utterly exhausted, excused himself after having provided the surgeons with all of the info they needed to care for the senator. 

The human doctor followed the medic's lead, resting outside the operation room. "God that was nerve wrecking..." he said. "I've stuided the anatomy of several species, but Nalloth are outside my expertise. Damn close that we even made progress."

The medic remained silent for a moment before responding. "The senator will probably succomb to his wounds within the next hour." Even to those of a different species it was clear that the medic looked defeated, his entire body slouched, his head held closer to the ground than would be considered normal.

"Oh..." even now the doctor felt defeated as well, despite trying their best to prevent such a fate. "That's a shame..not a good start for the day." All was silent for a few moments until the doctor turned to the nalloth medic, curious about what was said earlier.  "So...about that bullet, you mentioned it was phased out for decades. What's the story behind that?"

The medic's eyestalks seemed to stretch as far as they could, each eye looking in a different direction befor focusing on the doctor. "Did I say that outloud?" The medic asked. His eyes slowly came closer to his head. "Yes. We used to use those rounds. Specifically the armies of most of the Confederate's member states used those rounds for their main battle rifles. However after a few uses in the field it was discovered that the round would tumble in flight for some reason. When it struck a living being it would continue to tumble, causing grevious wounds. It was quickly determined to be inhumane to use such rounds on another sentient being, so the Confederate member states quickly phased them out. Well... most of the member states at least."

The doctor rubbed his chin, poundering. "It's out of my field, but something tells me a conspiracy 's afoot." he said. "But that's just me. I'm a Doctor, not a Detective." The two would soon have company as members of the Earth Delegation arrived. "Is Senator Fayyer here?" Joshua, the Kasian Ambassador spoke. 

"Yes, Ambassador." the doctor quickly replied. "Unfortunally...my friend here says he won't make it.."

"Oh no..." Joshua said, with a hint of sorrow in his tone. "I pray at least those unfortunate souls still out there will be safe." 

"We can only hope." Willams said, placing his hand over his shoulder. 

"And things were going so swimmingly too."

"We have stabilized the senator, at least temporarily" A Nalloth surgeon said as he approached. His translated words were 'spoken' instead of simply written out, much in the same way that Fayyer's last words to the Earth Delegation had been. The surgeon's tone was not quite defeated, but certainly lacking in hope. "Even if he does pull through he may wish he hadn't."

"Who could've done this?" Willams asked. "I would think the Xim or X'Cor...but this is not exactly characteristic of either of them, although the Evolvers are not out of the question..but it's impossibe for them to have presence aboard the Confedrate ships.."

The surgeon seemed to shrug as he said "Ask me about medicine and I'll have an answer for you. Anything else and you're on your own." Having spoken his mind he turned and headed back to the operating room in which Senator Fayyer rested.

"Captain Ruag might have some insight" The medic added. "He is the senior Confederate officer in the system."

"Then we must have a word with him, and find the culprits."  Willams said. "But for now..we will remain here, in respect to our new friend."

An hour passed. And then two. Then three without word of the senator's passing. Finally one of the nalloth surgeons, the one that had spoken earlier, came out to speak iwth the Earth Delegation.

"He's lasted much longer than we had anticipated" The surgeon said without preamble. His 'voice' seemed to be botth exhausted and somehow upbeat. "He's actually regained conciousness, though without the powerful painkillers we've been giving him he would be in enough pain to put him into shock." He paused for a moment before adding "The painkillers themselves may put him into shock. He's cognitizant enough to understand what the situation is, though his memory regarding the incident are hazy at best. He's asked to speak to a 'William' or 'Joshua'. Are either of them here?"

"Yes, we're both here." One of them, Joshua replied. 

"There is something I must inform you before you go in to speak to the senator." The surgeon began. "During the explosion his top two eyestalks were severed." The surgeon pointed at his own top eyestalks. "Unlike most species, we relie almost entirely on our eyes for 'facial' expression. In essense the wounds Senator Fayyer suffered are akin to having had half of his face blown off were he a human. It is something you should be aware of before you speak to him."

"My god..." Willams muttered out, taking a deep breath, both men entered the operation room, lay witnness to a truely horrific sight, the Senator was in terrible shape, almost on the edge of death itself, his top eyestalks now missing, and that had a feeling of wrongness to it. "Senator Fayyer?" Joshua spoke up.

Fayyer's remaining set of eyes slowly looked at Joshua. They seemed limp, half dead, and glazed over. "Ah... little brother." Fayyer did not whistle in his native tongue as the words were translated for the human, instead relying on his cyberware alone to pick up his thoughts and translate them. Otherwise he would have been unable to speak at all. "I tried to catch them... but I couldn't."

"Them..?" Willams speaking as he walked up. "Who is...them? Who did this to you?"

"The bombs! the bombs! Troeca is burning!" Was the only answer Fayyer offered.

The surgeon, having followed Joshua and Williams in to keep an eye on Fayyer's condition grunted "The painkillers are apparently affecting his mind adversely. .... Ah! Of course! He's referring to the bombing raid of Troeca ten years ago."

Both men raised their eyebrows. "Forgive my ignorance." Willams said. "But what occured ten years ago?"

"The Eiclen Revolts" The surgeon said, his 'voice' filled with disinterest as he looked over Fayyer's vitals.

"Troeca! I was there!" Fayyer said, seemingly ignroing the surgeon. One eye was on both Williams and Joshua. "Little brothers! Do not make the same mistake!"


"Calm yourself my friend." Joshua said. "But, I'm not sure what you mean by "mistake" "

"Whatever conspired here..is conntected this this old conflict." Willams said, rubbing his chin, thinking.

"He's probably just reliving another stressful event in his life" The surgeon commented.

"I.... I knew we should have finished the job." Fayyer's 'voice' seemed more subdued now. "We... balked at the idea. Cancer..." His eyes seemed to weave back and forth a bit before regaining some of their strength. "I... I... Why would they bomb Troeca?"

"You should rest, we'll figure this out later." Joshua said, trying to calm the Senator, but to no avail.

"No rest!" Fayyer responded. "Not while Troeca burns. Where is Captain Ruag. He will think this was an attack! I... will not... be the cause... of a war..." Fayyer, having spent the rest of his strength, went limp.

"He's just asleep" The surgeon said before anyone could even form the thought that Fayyer had died. "If he wakes up tomorrow then we will know that the Living Stars have plans for him." The surgeon then saw the two men out before returning his attention back to Senator Fayyer.

Some time much later, in the Tower Command Center, Commander Sanderson had been sent a request by the Earth Delegates, something he of course will carry out, anything to find the attackers. All was more calmer then before, the crisis had came to an end, but sadly, not without heeavy loss of life. Nonethreless, the ones behind the attack must be brought to justice, and Captain Ruag is a possible lead to discover the group's identity.

------------

"Captain Ruag." Sanderson begun. "Our delegates have small request of you, they wish to board your ship, they wish to discuss something with you."

Ruag seemed to consider his response for a moment before saying "Given the circumstances we will need to screen any guests for weapons or explosives." 

"Of course, It's understandable, the shuttle should arrive soon."

"Very well. We will be ready to recieve your shuttle. Now if you'll excuse me, Captain Ruag out." He terminated the connection before turning to one of his bridge officers. "We'll be recieving guests soon. I'll meet them in the conference room."

Half an hour had past, and the Earth Delegation had finally arrived, with their usual greetings, the small meeting was about to begin. The Ambassador and the Delegates sitting on one side, with the Captain and his escorts on the opposing end. "Thank you very much for this, Captain." Willams said with a smile. "We have some questions for you regarding the attack."

"For one."  Joshua spoke up. "Does the word "Troeca" mean anything to you?"

"Troeca?" Ruag parrotted. "It does sound familiar."

"It used to be a small town before the Eiclen Revolts." One of Ruag's escorts commented.

"That's why it sounded familiar! Damn that was a nasty affair. How do you know the name?" Ruag asked as eh intently watched Joshua.

"Senator Fayyer ranted and raved about the "Bombing of Troeca", we think it's related to the incident."

"I find that unlikely." Ruag said, his eyes seeming to focus on nothing for a moment. "Ah yes. I'm looking at the medical report from our head surgeon. He commented that a combination of PTSD and the type of painkillers he was on would affect his ability to comprehend where he was and what is going on."

"Are you sure? The Senator said something about "finishing the job", seems he knew what he was talking about, regardless of the ramblings."

"Look" Ruag began "While you were fighting the Xim ten years ago we had some... domestic issues. One of the Confederation's member states, Eiclen, had elements of its government revolt against the Confederate government.  We kicked their asses back into Eiclen and after the revolt was over their was a shakeup in their government."

"Troeca used to be a city near the Eiclen border. Their army destroyed it as it retreated back into Eiclen territory. We were never really sure if the act was one of retaliation or simply meant to delay our own advance." One of Ruag's escorts offered.

Ruag let out a grunt before adding "As I said earlier: we won. Full stop. Eiclen is no longer an issue."

"Well...if you say so. However, I also have my doubts." Willasm said. "It's certainly not somethiing to shove away, it must be investigated, if Eiclen is no longer a threat...then whoever this third party is, they must be found, and if they have conntections too Eiclen, well, it seems they're not as pacified as thought."

"We will be investing all possiblities" Ruag stated. "But I feel obligated to state that I find it highly unlikely that an Eiclen agent would be able to smuggle a bomb onto the [i]Argent[/i]. Its more likely a case of domestic terrorism."

"I see, well thank you very much for your cooperation, captain." Willams said with a wide grin, silghty bowing his head." I do hope your investiations bare some fruit." he and the rest of the delegation stood up, bidding their farwells as they left the room for the hanger bay, "Until we meet again."

"May the Living Stars watch over you" Ruag said as he inclined his head. "And may they find those responsible for this terrible event to be unworthy of their favor."